The Trouble of Secrets
by Iceestar
Summary: Six years passing, a one night stand, and a secret kept from everyone can lead to trouble, especially if your name is Madeline Williams and the father of your child runs into you in the park. Prussia x Fem!Canada AU.
1. Meeting

Secrets are never kept very well. Typically the truth comes out eventually. While almost all secrets come out in the end, some are actually meant to stay a secret.

Six years passing plus a one night stand plus a huge secret kept from all, but one means trouble. Especially if your name starts with Madeline and ends with Williams. Extra especially if you have a thing for people with accents and get drunk really easily, but this story's getting ahead of itself.

* * *

"Alfred, Fritz, I'm home!" Madeline called out to her dear older brother. She turned to hang up her coat when she was suddenly tackled by a light blonde blur. Madeline closed the door and laughed softly. She gently pat the boy on his head before leaning down to give him a kiss on the top of his head.

"Go wash up and I'll make dinner Fritz." Madeline said softly as she look down at her child. He had crimson red eyes and hair that was so light blonde that it almost looked white. Both things were from his father's side of the genes, but the boy had gotten Madeline's big eyes and soft facial figures along with her more lanky build. The boy also loved pancakes. It was interesting living with a constant reminder of a mistake that she made when she was in high school, but Madeline wanted to give the child a chance. Plus, she had the support of her brother and that was all Madeline really needed.

Fritz nodded quickly and wrapped his tiny arms around Madeline's leg. He happily chirped, "I won't let go unless you promise that we can have pancake for dinner, Maman!" Fritz looked up at Madeline with wide eyes as he flashed her a toothy grin.

Madeline chuckled and patted Fritz's head again before ruffling his hair up. "Alright Fritz. Now move along and wash your hands and I'll start up the pancakes." Madeline said gently. She watched her boy run off with a soft smile. She wrapped her arms around herself gently as she stared off into space at the spot Fritz had vanished from sight. Madeline jumped when she heard someone clear their throat. Madeline turned around quickly to find herself staring into her brother's light blue eyes.

"I still don't understand why y-" Alfred started to say before falling silent at the dark glare Madeline gave him.

"First off, this is a terrible time to talk about this. And second, I know you don't understand, but it's the way it's suposed to be. Gi- Fritz's father was just starting out since his badn got their first gig, he was of legal age while I wasn't, and if anyone had found out the truth both of our lives would have been ruined. It was a hard decision for me, but I'm positive it was the right one. Plus, now I have a cute little boy and an older brother I'll always be able to count on. I'm happy with what I've got." Madeline said quickly. It was true after all. She was very happy with her life so far.

Madeline walked past Alfred with her head held high. She calmly said, "Now, I've got some pancakes to make and I believe it's time for you to get ready for your job."

Alfred watched Madeline walk by and sighed softly. He quietly muttered, "I just want to make sure you're okay Maddie..."

* * *

After a nice dinner of pancakes Alfred left for work and Madeline was convinced to take Fritz out to the park after tens minutes of begging. "Kesese~ Awesome! We get to go to the park!" Fritz had exclaimed happily as the two walked out of the large apartment. Madeline had just patted his head affectionately and locked the door after them.

Madeline sat on one of the swings and watched Fritz and another boy run around. It was really cute. They were pretending to be super heroes. Fritz had deemed himself the Invincible Invisible and the other boy had just deemed himself superman. Madeline thought it was a nice sight. After a little bit Madline looked up at the sky and watched the clouds take their slow trek across the sky. She sat there picking out random clouds and figuring out which shapes they could possibly be. It was a fun activity that she loved doing, but didn't have much time for with her job and taking care of Fritz. She'd have to try it with her creative writing class. After all to be creative you need to stimulate your imagination and that's just what cloud watching did. Plus, Madeline could make them write somehting that was in some way connected to the clouds.

Madeline sighed happily before tilting her head back down to watch her child playing, but when she looked, Fritz was going. Jumping out of the swing and scanning the area, Madeline felt her good mood curl up in a corner and die. She was looking away for like two minutes! How far could two little boys go?

Madeline looked around quickly before moving down the path of the park. Madeline cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Fritz? Fritz Francis Williams where are you?"

* * *

"Kid. Kid. What's wrong, kid? It's unawesome to cry like that." A man said in a ruff, but caring voice. He had just been walking around becuse he thought the park would be peaceful when he had noticed a little figure looking around for a little bit. The man has just passed it off as a kid playing a game or something, but when the kid, Gilbert had finally realized it was a kid, sat down on the ground and hugged his legs to him the man knew that something was wrong. He, being awesome as he was, decided to check it out and see what was going on. When he heard the kid crying quietly the man decided he would try to help. As he got closer he was shocked to see hair almost as white as his own.

"G- go away stranger. I- I'm n- not supposed to talk to strangers." The little boy snapped as he sniffled and try to stop crying.

"The name's Gilbert. There, now I'm not a stranger. Tell me what's wrong kid." Gilbert said quickly, hoping he would be able to cheer up the little guy.

The kid sniffled for a moment before he quietly said, "I- I got lost, okay? I was playing with a friend of mine and we ran off, but when I turned away my friend ran of like the unawesome guy he is. My mom was sitting at the swings watching us, but now I don't know how to get back to the swings and I'm probably just making her sad and Uncle Alfred says to never make mommy sad." The kid sniffled as new tears started going down his face.

Gilbert looked down at the kid for a moment as he scratched the back of his neck, not quite sure how to handle the situation. "Er... Well, kid... um," Gilbert said before pausing, realizing that he had no clue what this kid's name was.

"My name is Fritz," Fritz snapped quickly.

Gilbert's eyes went wide when he heard the name, but didn't show his surprise in his voice. "Well, Fritz, I'll take you back to the swings and we'll look for your mom. Come on now." Gilbert said as gentely as he could. He wasn't exactly the gentle type and was terrible at making other feel better.

Fritz sniffed for a little bit and rubbed at his eyes. He turned around to face Gilbert and was shocked to find himself staring into red eyes.

* * *

Madeline looked around frantically for Fritz before she decided to pull out her phone. Oh, she was a terrible mother. She'd call Alfred and see what he thought, but wait... she couldn't bother Alfred. He had already done so much for her at this point. She couldn't make him drop work to help her look. Alfred wouldn't always be there for her to rely on and Madeline would have to handle it on her own.

What would she do? What _should_ she do? Madeline looked at her phone and thought about calling the police. They would surely be able to find her child quickly, but wasn't there a certain time that had to pass before you could report a missing person? Madeline quickly tossed that idea away. Maybe Fritz was still in the park. Surely he wouldn't wander off that much. Madeline just had to make sure to look for him carefully. Carefully? How hard would it be to find an albino kid?

Madeline put away her phone and took a deep breath to calm herself down. Everything was going to be fine. She'd find Fritz with no problem and then they'd go home and all would be well. Maddline turned around when she heard a familiar voice call out, "Mom!"

Madeline spotted her child running at her and quickly scooped him up into her arms, holding him closely to her. She felt light tears start dripping out of her eyes as she hugged her child. "Fritz. I was so scared. You know you're not supposed to leave my sight without telling me! What were you thinking? Anything could have happened! What would I have done if someone had taken you or you had gotten hurt?" Madeline scolded quickly. She was relieved, unbelievably relieved, that her child was safe. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost Fritz. Other than Alfred, Fritz was all Madeline had in this life.

Madeline looked up when she heard someone clear their throat and felt her heart stop. She stood there, silent tears on her checks and a boy in her arms, and stared at the person she hadn't seen in six years. The one that she had thought she would never see again. The one she had broken the heart of. The father of her child.

"Madeline... I think you didn't tell me something when you broke up with me six years ago." The man said softly as he watched both Madeline and Fritz.

Madeline looked into the red eyes of her ex-boyfriend for a moment. "Gilbert." Madeline softly whispered as she felt her heart slowly crack.

((A/N: This was for one of my other friends IRL. She's a really cool person. She told me that there were fics where two people had a child, but one didn't know it about like all of the Hetalia pairings except PruCan so I asked her if she wanted me to write her one. She said yes so I wrote her one. It was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but I love ending things on dramatic notes like that. It's just fun to do. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this or not, but the first part was very fun to write. Let me know what you think by reviewing~ Sorry this is kind of short!))


	2. Raging Emotions

Gilbert lifted an eyebrow at the expression on Madeline's face. It was an odd expression and Gilbert was trying to figure out just what Madeline was thinking. She looked shocked and a little hurt at the same time. It reminded Gilbert of a little kid playing with a cute kitten, but getting scratched without warning. Gilbert watched Madeline carefully, wincing when she whispered his name. It reminded him of the year in high school that they were together. It wasn't a long relationship and it definitely wasn't perfect. He remember that right after ithat night/i Madeline had broken his heart and destroy his self-confidence with a mere four words. He also remembered that for the past six years he'd been thinking about the violet eye'd girl.

Fritz looked at Madeline for a moment before turning his attention to Gilbert. "Do you know my mom already, Mr. Gilbert?" Fritz asked innocently, not quite sure why the two adults were just standing there watching each other.

Gilbert flinched at the formal title of Mister. It almost stung to hear this boy call him that, especially if Gilbert's suspicions were correct. Gilbert licked his lips and nodded at the child, trying to numb his feelings. Gilbert looked at Madeline for a moment, his lips drawing into a tight line a he tried to supress his emotions from bubbling up. He wasn't sure what to say or if he should even say anything at all. Gilbert decided a while ago that Madeline had a reason to break up with him and had spent all this time trying to forget Madeline.

"Th- Thank you for helping m- me find Fritz... I- eh... Would you like to come over for a... drink?" Madeline stuttered nervously. She had finally gotten out of the habit of stuttering, but seeing Gilbert again made her so nervous that she couldn't help but stutter and trip over her words. Her cheeks were tinted pink as she stared down at the ground.

Gilbert, suddenly feeling a bit bold and finding his voice, quickly snapped, "Only if you'll finally give me an explination."

Madeline's eyes narrowed for a moment as he temper flared. She remembered when she broke up with Gilbert he had pestered her for an explination for a while afterwards and she had never given him one. She felt that it wasn't something to bring up in front of Fritz, especially with him listening to their conversation so closely, but Madeline tried to make herself calm down. She knew that this was just the way Gilbert worked and that his bluntness was more of a defensive thing when he was confused.

"Fine," Madeline said stiffly as she set Fritz down. Madeline took Fritz's hand before turning on her heel and starting to walk away. She walked a few steps before twisting her head of her shoulder. "Are you coming? I'm sure you don't want to be at my house when Alfred gets back." Madeline said without a hint of emotion in her voice. She turned her head forwards once more and continued to walk off.

Gilbert gulped at the thought of seeing Alfred again after six years. He could clearly remember the threats from Madeline's older brother envolving a baseball bat and Gilbert's ass.

* * *

Gilbert was later sitting on a chair with a coke placed on the table in front of him as he studied the cieling and waited for Madeline to finally come back from Fritz's room. She was putting him to bed since he needed to go to school tomorrow and he was only five. He was also not (he definitely was) wishing that the chair he was sitting in would explode just so he wouldn't have to talk to Madeline about what he wanted to talk about. It was an odd feeling to want to talk about something so badly, but at the same time wish that you could talk about anything else. Yeah, he very nervous about confronting his ex-girlfriend about his posible child.

Gilbert had realized quickly that Madeline wouldn't answer any of his questions while Fritz was around so he had waited to talk to Madeline about it so they had spent the whole time he was there catching up on each other's lives. Gilbert was happy that Madeline was able to go to collage for a degree to teach English. He had known that it was what Madeline really wanted to do so it pleased him that having a kid didn't stop her. Gilbert himself had followed what he wanted to do, becoming a rockstar with his two best friends Francis and Antonio and rising into fame. Gilbert was in town on a sort of break for his band, wanting to find the same inspiration he found in his youth that made him want to become a musician in the first place. Gilbert also got to here all about Fritz's achievements from Fritz himself. The kid was really cute in Gilbert's opinion.

Gilbert was lost in his thoughts when Madeline finally came back into the room and jumped when she sat down across the table from him. Madeline looked at Gilbert for a moment, not meeting his eyes. She looked away quickly when Gilbert tried to make eye contact. She wasn't sure how to go about saying what was on her mind so she didn't want to look Gilbert in the eye in fear that he would be able to read her emotions the way he use to.

"Gi- Gilbert," Madeline started. "I know you're probably angry at me for never telling you anything. And you have right to be angry, b- but right now isn't a good time to sit down and tell you what happened back then. I've just gotten out of collage and I'm already stressed with my job. Fr- Fritz doesn't know anything a- and I've moved on s- so... If you could just l- ..." Madeline stopped talking, not wanting to actually tell Gilbert to leave. She wanted Gilbert gone before Alfred came home since he normally came home from work early on Monday's and it was around time for him to come home. Plus, the more Madeline thought the more she realized that she didn't really owe Gilbert an explination. He obviously already knew that Fritz was his kid and in Madeline's opinion that was all he needed to know. She refused to let Gilbert take responsiblity for Fritz. It was just a bad idea all around. Fritz didn't need the drama of being a rockstar's son along with Gilbert's lack of maturity.

"Leave?" Gilbert snapped after a moment. He slammed his hand down on the table and stood suddenly. His crimson eyes blazed with anger as he looked down at Madeline. She wanted him to just leave? He deserved an explination or anything! How could he just leave his kid behind without another word? It'd be a jerk move and reminded him too much of what his parents had done to him and his younger brother. Gilbert wasn't like that. He refused to ever be anything like his parents.

"Madeline, I think you owe me an explination! A few words, something, anything!" Gilbert growled as he leaned over to table to glare at Madeline. He had come here for an explination not a crappy soda and catching up with a girl that gibert was quickly losing his patience with.

Madeline looked at Gilbert for a moment, shaking gently as she tried to stay calm. She didn't want to wake up Fritz. Madeline stood up and said, "I owe you nothing Gilbert. Now get out." She had been nervous earlier, but getting yelled at brought out the anger held inside of her. She stood up from her place at the table and glared at Gilbert, daring him to say anything against what was she saying.

Now, the interesting thing about Gilbert is he never backs down from a challenge so 'daring him to say anything' just made him even more rilled up.

Gilbert's upper lip curled back into somewhat of a snarl as he lean across the table so he was right in front of Madeline's face. "You owe me nothing? I think you do unless you'd like me to get the law involved in finding out if Fritz is my child as well. I'd like to remind you that Ludwig became a lawer." Gilbert growled in a low voice.

He stayed like that in Madeline face until she stumbled backwards and into the wall behind her. It took a moment for Gilbert to process what he probably looked like leaning over the table with his lip pulled up to show off his sharp teeth. Gilbert moved away from the table for a moment and turned around, putting his head in his hand and trying to calm down. Scaring the crap out of his old girlfriend was not a good way to deal with this. It was never a good way to deal with anything.

Gilbert sighed softly before moving his hand off his face. He turned back to look at Madeline and saw that she had recovered and was no longer leaning against the wall for support. Gilbert watched Madeline for a second before saying, "Look, Madeline, just give me a better reason of why Fritz can't know about me and tell why on Earth you seem to hate me so much and I'll leave. That's all I want to know. Just tell me those two things and you'll never see my face again."

Madeline looked at Gilbert for a moment before sighing softly. "I already told you why Fritz can't know who you are. You're just starting off as a musician and from what I've heard at the school I'm working at you guys are all the rage right now. You'll probably be famous soon and that's drama that Fritz doesn't need in his life!" Madeline sanpped quickly. She watched Gilbert as he moved back and forth. "And I don't hate you." Madeline muttered under her breath.

Gilbert paced back and forth for a moment, trying to think over his next set of words and trying to stay calm. He looked over at Madeline before moving swiftly around the table so he was standing directly in front of her. He looked her in the eyes for a moment, feeling his anger bubble up again. "I said give me a better reason not the same reason and if you don't hate me why did you just leave huh? Why did you give me a single letter to tell me that you thought we should break up and then avoid me until I had to leave town? If you don't hate me then why do you want me to leave so badly?" Gilbert snarled angrily.

Madeline flinched away when Gilbert looked into her eyes, taking a slight step back. She kept her head down and her hair near the front of her face as if to make a barrier protecting her from Gilbert. She heard Gilbert's words loud and clear and felt salty water gathering up in her eyes. She was so confused about what she should do. Madeline wanted nothing more than to spill out every thought she had to Gilbert, but Madeline didn't want to make Fritz's life unbarable. Madeline felt a tear spill over and slide down her face as she started to suffle backwards.

Madeline's head snapped up when she felt her wrists harshly grabbed. She had eye contact with Gilbert for a moment before he pushed her against the wall, pinning her there with his hands and moving forward so there was barely an inch between them. Madeline felt herself shaking lightly as she felt herself get lost in the torrent of emotions raging in the blood red eyes before her.

Gilbert broke eye contact and moved his head forward so his mouth was right next to Madeline's ear and growled, "I let you run away from me six years ago, but not now. Now, answer my questions!" Gilbert shook Madeline's wrists and clenched down tighter unconsciously. He was beyond angry at this point and refused to leave without an answer.

Madeline froze when Gilbert's mouth was placed by her ear, trying to not be as scared as she was. The tears in her eyes continued to well up before they spilled over like a dam breaking the second Gilbert shook her wrists. "G- Gil-bert you're hu- hurting me." Madeline stuttered, stumbling over her words in her fear. Her eyes were locked onto the space just over Gilbert's shoulder as she shook with fear.

Gilbert just frowned at Madeline's words, not loosening his grip in the least bit. Gilbert sighed loudly at Madeline not answering his questions right away and opened his mouth to say something when he felt something from behind grab his shirt.

Gilbert quickly found himself torn off of Madeline and tossed into the table. He tried to stagger to his feet, but a swift kick to the stomach halted that processes. Gilbert lifted his head up just enough to see blazing blue eyes and Madeline clutching her knees to her chest before he was kneed in the face. Gilbert fell to the floor and clutched his chin.

"I told you that if I ever saw your rotten face again I'd rip you to pieces and now you're here making Madeline cry?" Alfred snarlled at Gilbert. Alfred moved forward and grabbed the front of Gilbert's shirt, lifting the albino up and into the air.

Alfred lifted his other hand to knock out Gilbert's lights when he heard a soft voice stutter, "M- Mommy?"

* * *

((A/N: Torrent... It's a really cool word if you think about it. If you don't know the deffinition look it up.

Anyway~ Thank you SOOO much for all the reviews and faves and alerts! You guys have no clue how much it encouraged me to get started with writing this thing. To be honest I had no clue how I was going to continue this if anyone wanted me to continue it, but with all the comments I started working on this right away! To all that reviewed, I would love to reply back to your wonderful reviews, but I honestly don't know what to say to them.

Sorry about the cliffhanger, but they're so much fun to write! Review for a quick update~))


	3. Helpful Memories

((A/N: Sorry for the Author's Notes at the top and at the end, but I wanted to give props to this video: http:/www. youtube. com/watch?v=RbyBtqKYtHM&feature=fvwrel [Delete the spaces] think it's probably one of the best Hetalia videos I've seen. Anyway~ On to the story...))

Gilbert felt his butt hit the ground the second Fritz spoke. He looked up at Alfred for a moment, half expecting the big American to kick him across the room, but was glad when he noticed that Alfred's attention wasn't on him. Gilbert moved to his feet quickly and shuffled away from the three and closer to the door so he could get out or here quickly if he needed to. Gilbert looked over at Fritz who was now in Alfred's arm with a soft look.

"I- I- ..." Gilbert mumbled, trying to say something to explain what happened. His eyes wandered over to Madeline, who was still on the floor with her knees to her chest, and he felt his mouth go dry. How could he explain what happened to them? He barely even knew what happened. He had just wanted to talk to Madeline about this and get a straight answer from her, but instead he had probably scarred a kid for life, gotten a broken rib, and made the girl he loved cry. There was no explaining that except for saying that he was a terrible person. Gilbert licked his lips, trying to get the courage to actually say something to end the silence ringing in the room.

Gilbert felt him lose the little bit of courage he had worked up when Alfred turned around to glare at him. Gilbert moved backwards a bit, pretty sure at this point that speaking would only dig his grave deeper, but he stopped when Fritz spoke.

"Go away mean unawesome person! You made mommy cry! Go away!" Fritz snapped at Gilbert, trying to wiggle out of Alfred's grasp. Fritz wanted this mean man, who had seemed so nice earlier, gone. He didn't want his mom to cry anymore. It made him sad when she cried and Fritz hated being sad. It was one of the most unawesome things in the world.

Gilbert licked his lips again and swallowed trying to respond. He stood still for what felt like hours under the accusatory gaze of Fritz. Gilbert nodded quickly and turned away. He muttered a pitiful, "I'm sorry," before dashing out the door, slamming it behind him and racing down the stairs. Gilbert didn't hesitate to go out the door and run away from the apartment building, trying to escape the memories swarming in his head.

Gilbert quickly found himself at the school he had been a student at six years ago before he finally stopped running. He looked up at the towering building before turning and starting down the street again, but this time at a much slowly pace. His breath came out in a small puff of fog as he walked briskly. He had no clue where he was going at this point. He did have a hotel room at the hotel that was in town, but Gilbert knew that if he went there he'd just end up pacing back and forth all night.

Gilbert sighed loudly and ran a hand in his hair before grabbing the hair and pulling on it a little. Why did he had to lose it and start yelling at Madeline? And why did she have to be so frustrating? Gilbert just wanted some answers and maybe to try and patch up their relationship, but Madeline was making that impossible. It was just all her fault. If she had just told him instead of breaking up with him this wouldn't have happened and then... Well, Gilbert wasn't sure what would happen after that. He just knew that it'd be better than what was going on now.

Gilbert didn't even fully understand why Madeline seemed to hate him so much. With his rising fame as a musician most girls practically flung themselves at him. Sure in high school he hadn't been that popular with girls since most of them thought he was a jerk, but now he was offered dates all the time and yet Madeline just wanted him to leave and never come back again like he was just some annoying ugly little puppy that wouldn't leave her alone. Gilbert couldn't leave like that though. It went far, far against his morals.

"Think Gilbert think... What do the awesome do when having girl troubles?" Gilbert muttered under his breath, picking up his pace a little bit. What _did_ he do in high school to get the only two girls he dated? Well, the first girl had just been using him to get his cousin jealous and the second girl was the same one that he was currently having trouble with. Gilbert tried his best to remember how he got Madeline to go out with him in the first place.

* * *

_Gilbert stared at the girl sitting in front of him. Her name was Madeline and she was one of the prettiest, kindest girls he had ever seen. Gilbert wanted to say something to her, but she was so shy around people and Gilbert was sure that he'd just scare Madeline away. Gilbert sighed loudly and put his head down on his desk, trying to think of some way to talk to the girl. Normally he'd just pull out some lame pick up line he had heard on the internet that would only work on hookers, but Gilbert was actually looking to get together with the girl and go out with her for a while, not just get in her pants. Gilbert didn't know how to go about that. The last time he had been in a relationship was when Elizabeta had asked him out to make his cousin jealous. Needless to say, the relationship didn't work out at all._

_Gilbert didn't notice when the bell rang, opting to keep his head and arms glued to the desk. He did notice when a light hand tapped his shoulder. Gilbert looked up quickly and found himself face to face with the girl he had just been thinking about so hard. Gilbert felt his mouth go dry as he tried to think of something to say._

_Licking his lips Gilbert opened his mouth to try and say something, but all that came out was muttered non-sense. He couldn't think of anything to say._

_Madeline laughed lightly and smiled at Gilbert gently. "Cat got your tongue?" Madeline said quietly as she looked down at Gilbert. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Gilbert, being so close to her, heard what she had said._

_Gilbert stood up suddenly and laughed. "The awesome never lose their voices!" Gilbert said before turning and walking (running) away._

* * *

_Later at lunch Gilbert had his head on the table and was whining to his two best friends. "I said something completely stupid and then just ran away! It wasn't cool at all!" Gilbert moaned loudly. He hit his head against the table a few times, trying to induce memory loss so he would forget what had happened last period._

_"Mon ami, it would help if you told us who this girl you're trying to get is. You still haven't told us." Francis said, placing a gentle hand on Gilbert's shoulder, trying to comfort his friend._

_Gilbert just gave a soft whimper and continued to hit his head against the table. "But I can't tell you guys!" Gilbert whined. He had been about to tell Francis and Antonio who he was crushing on when he found out that Madeline was Francis's cousin, the one he practically raised. Gilbert was no stranger to how protective Francis got of his cousin considering that Gilbert had seen Francis tell a fair number of guys on the hockey team that Madeline followed around that if they mess with Madeline they would be eating their own dicks for the rest of their very short lives. It scared the crap out of Gilbert just thinking about what Francis would do if Gilbert messed up with Madeline, but maybe if Gilbert got Francis's approval first Francis wouldn't totally kill him._

_"Stop hitting your head... Your grades are bad enough without you having brain damage," Arthur snapped before quickly adding in, "Git." He honestly forgot why he sat at this table half the time he did sit here, but whenever he forgot he'd move to a different table only to remember that Francis would follow him just to annoy the crap out of him. Arthur didn't understand why Francis loved bothering him so much in the first place. They technically where related so in theory Francis would be more inclined to leave him alone, but apparently Francis didn't fit with any of Arthur's theories._

_Gilbert stopped hitting his head and glared at Arthur with narrowed eyes, suddenly wishing that the Brit and his stupid book would spontaneously burst into flames. Gilbert sighed loudly and rubbed his head, sitting up to look at Francis and Antonio sitting on the other side of the table. Gilbert locked eyes with Francis for a moment before getting up and walking to the other side of the table._

_Gilbert roughly grabbed Francis's elbow and started pulling him away from the rest of the table. "Come on, Franny. I need to talk to you." Gilbert snapped quickly as he pulled the Frenchman along. Gilbert had finally decided. He would just tell Francis and hope that his friend didn't attack him from behind like the dirty fighter Francis was._

_Francis stumbled a few times, not expecting to be yanked away from the table so suddenly. He caught his footing after a moment though and was able to follow Gilbert quickly so his arm wouldn't get torn off his body. The albino was pretty strong whenever he wasn't paying attention even if Gilbert had nothing on his tank of a brother._

_"Gilbert, what is it?" Francis asked when they finally stopped and his arm was released. Francis rubbed his elbow lightly and scowled at his friend. Francis hoped that his arm wouldn't get a bruise on it. The last thing he needed was a bruise discoloring his beautiful skin._

_Gilbert had stopped them in a corner. It was one of the most secluded places in the entire cafeteria, but that didn't help Gilbert in any way at all when it came to his nerves. Gilbert moved back and forth, trying to think just how to tell Francis. Gilbert turned to Francis and stared him in the eyes. He had no clue how Francis would take this, but Gilbert would just have to say it._

_So, with all of the class and smoothness Gilbert possessed, he blurted out, "I have a crush on your cousin Madeline and I know you probably want to kill me, but whenever I see her I act all unawesome and I really want to bend her over something and- well you don't want to hear that, but all in all, I have no clue how to talk to her or if she'd even want to talk to me. I never wanted to tell you cause I know you're really protective of her, but I can't take being this unawesome any longer so punch me in the face and get it over with, but please help me!" Yeah, Gilbert wasn't that great with words, but at least Francis got the idea._

_Francis looked Gilbert over for a moment his sea blue eyes widening a little to show his surprise. Gilbert closed his eyes fearfully, fully expecting the blonde to punch him in the face, but when the punch never came Gilbert slowly cracked open one eye. What he saw completely blew his mind._

_Francis had a smile on his face. Not one of those, 'I'm smiling, but I'm completely pissed at you,' smiles either. It was a huge smile that made Francis look like he found this whole thing hilarious. Then, Francis started laughing. It started off as a little chuckling before Francis was full on laughing. It was so not cool in Gilbert's mind._

_Gilbert frowned and said, "I'm being serious Francis!"_

_Francis tried to contain his laughter, a few laughs slipping out here and there as he said, "I know, I know mon ami. It's just that your way of confessing stuff like this is... well, it's hilarious." Francis took a deep breath to calm down and forced himself to be serious. "I've known about your crush on Madeline for a while now. I mean... you're not good at hiding things, but don't worry. I just wanted to see how long it'd take you to finally admit it to me." Francis said with a smirk._

_Gilbert's mouth hung open as he stared at the blonde man before him. Francis had just been screwing with him this whole time by pretending he didn't know? Somehow, Gilbert's mind couldn't wrap around this logic properly even though it really did make sense. Francis was always the best at reading the atmosphere and he was the 'master of love,' being French as he was. "I- I... I can't believe you'd screw with my head like that Franny! B- But... You are going to help me r- right?" Gilbert asked nervously. He had gotten the, telling Francis part done, but now he just had to be careful or else he'd end up with a black eye for sure._

_Francis smiled softly and said, "Yes, Yes I'll help you. Though, I'm certain you know what will happen if you hurt her. And you don't even have to worry about me doing all of it. Her brother Alfred would take care of you first."_

_Gilbert (totally didn't) gulped, thinking of the loud American who had tossed a person five yards when he was angry. Gilbert knew better than to mess with that train of a kid. It was almost as bad as getting Ludwig completely pissed off._

_Francis laughed at the frightened expression on Gilbert's face and put and arm around his friend. "Alright. Now Gilbert, here's what you should do..."_

* * *

Gilbert smiled to himself at the fond memory before it hit him. That's what he'd do! He always went to Francis in the past when he was having girl trouble. What girl did Francis know how to make happy better than his cousin? Gilbert quickly flipped open his phone and pressed one of the speed dial numbers.

"Hey Francis? Yeah, it's me Gilbert. What? Yeah, vacation has been okay so far. I'll probably be back with you and Toni in a week or so, but right now I really need your help. It's about Madeline. Yes, your cousin. What? You know about what happened six years ago? Francis! Why didn't you ever tell me? The awesome can yell all he wants! Okay! Geez, I'll stop yelling, just please tell me what to do! She won't even talk to me about it and Alfred's not gonna let me anywhere near her!" Gilbert whined into the phone, praying that his best friend would take pity on him and just help him.

There was a long pause before Gilbert heard a sigh on the other side of the phone. Gilbert held his breath for a moment before Francis started talking. "Alright, mon ami. Here's what you should do..."

* * *

((A/N: Alright so you guys have no clue how unbelievably hard it was to write this chapter. After getting the feedback I did from the second chapter I started writing this one quickly. Then my teachers were like, "You only have four more weeks of school left? Time to pile on the homework!" So this got delayed. Then another week of writer's block and constant distractions later, I finally got this out. I hope you guys like it. It's a bit longer than the last chapter.

By the way, I love leaving cliffhangers if you haven't already noticed that. I mean, not all of my chapters will end like that, but a lot of them will. Think of it as my way of trolololing you from a distance. I troll because I care.

Also~~ Thank you SOOOOO much for all of th reviews! Since I have no clue how to respond to half of them I'm just going to list out all the people who reviewed~

So, thank you to 83duckHAIR, Hikaru-NeeChan, asdfasdfaddf, blacknightwolf1, AliceMitch09, New Berlin, Neeky-chan, Air High, CelesteTheDetective, fluffymagentajellyfish, Progota, person, evilbookfairy666, Sora Moto, and okamixcosplayer for reviewing!

Now, I've got to go make dinner before my stomach eats itself. And remember, reviews are what encourage me to write faster, whether you think my story sucks or you like it, let me know! Have a nice day~))


	4. Suspicious Trips

((A/N: Alright so this starts at the end of chapter 2 when Fritz walks in. Just so you know.))

Alfred looked over at Fritz, his eyes growing wide as the little boy stood there shaking. He dropped Gilbert without a second thought about the albino, not caring to deal with him in front of Fritz. Alfred quickly crossed the space in between him and Fritz and scooped the small child up into his arms. Alfred gazed down at the child with a soft look as he gently rubbed the back of Fritz's head to try and make him calm down.

Madeline held her knees to her chest and tried to stop crying. She couldn't believe that Gilbert had grabbed her and pinned her to the wall like that. She had known Gilbert to get a little violent when upset, but never like that. It terrified her and now Fritz had gotten thrown into the middle of all of this. Her shoulders shook as tears continued spilling out of her eyes as she rubbed them uselessly.

Alfred glanced at his younger sister worriedly and bit his lip lightly before turning and glaring darkly at Gilbert. If Fritz hadn't come into the room Gilbert wouldn't have been able to stand there and stare at Madeline, but now the Fritz was in the picture Alfred had to protect the innocence of his mind. Alfred would've smirked at the sight of Gilbert moving backwards in fear if the situation hadn't been so serious, but the situation was so Alfred settled for just glaring harder, hoping that somehow glaring would cause Gilbert to burst into flames.

Fritz let himself get picked up by Alfred and slung his arms around Alfred's neck, feeling safer in the American's arms. Fritz watched Gilbert for a while before opening his mouth and snapping, "Go away mean unawesome person! You made mommy cry! Go away!" Fritz, deciding that it wasn't enough to just sit there and yell at Alfred, struggled in Alfred's grasp. Fritz wanted to get down on the ground and make Gilbert leave himself. Sure Gilbert had seemed nice earlier, but now Fritz's mom was on the floor crying and Gilbert was obviously the cause. Fritz hated it when Madeline cried because it made him want to cry and he hated crying. It just wasn't awesome.

Fritz felt the arms holding him tighten so he couldn't get away. Unable to force Gilbert to leave, Fritz settled for just glaring at the albino. Fritz heard the quick "I'm sorry." that came out of Gilbert's mouth and felt himself get angrier.

Alfred watched Gilbert run out the door and let out a soft growl, wishing that he could follow and let the albino know just what would happen if Alfred happened to see him again. Rock star or not, no one was allowed to mess with Alfred's sister. Alfred watched the door for a second longer, making sure that Gilbert really was gone and wasn't going to just come back in before he set Fritz down gently.

Alfred put his hand on the boy's head lightly and said, "How about you give your mom a big ol' hug to make her feel better while I make some hot chocolate?" He chuckled at Fritz when the child ran over to Madeline and hugged her gently. Alfred glanced at the door again as if Gilbert would just randomly pop up out of nowhere. As he walked off into the kitchen, Alfred found himself wondering if he needed to take work off to make sure Gilbert really didn't come back.

Madeline felt Fritz's arms around her and forced herself to stop crying. She was the mother here so she should be the one comforting Fritz not the other way around. Madeline moved her arms around Fritz and let her legs fall to the ground so she could place the little boy on her lap. She smiled softly, but it just looked awkward with her puffy red eyes and tears streaking her face.

"I'm sorry we woke you up Fritz." Madeline said softly as she pulled Fritz to her chest. She put her head on top of his head and held him like she was scared something might happen to him at any moment, which was really what could happen. She didn't know what was going to happen.

Madeline sighed and looked down at her little boy, thankful that he was there. Sleeping with Gilbert was a mistake and she regretted it, but having Fritz was an amazing thing. He was a blessing to her and she loved him with all of her heart.

Fritz grinned up at Madeline and wiped at the tear streaks on her face, gently. "It's okay mommy! You don't need to cry anymore okay? I'm here to protect you." Fritz chirped happily. The thought of him protecting Madeline was a bit childish, but somehow it made the older blond feel better.

Alfred glanced around the corner from within the kitchen area and looked at Fritz sitting in Madeline's lap, hugging her. The scene was cute, but Alfred was mostly just thankful that Madeline had seemed to stop crying. He grinned softly before pushing the three cups of hot chocolate he had made in the microwave further back on the counter.

Giving a fake pout, Alfred stormed out of the kitchen and said, "And why am I not getting any hugs? I am the one who made everyone hot chocolate."

Madeline stood up and set Fritz on the ground. "You hear that Fritz? Alfred wants a hug. Go get him." Madeline said with a mischievous grin.

Fritz laughed a little before running over to Alfred and hugging him. "Uncle Al you could've just joined me and mommy's hug instead." Fritz said with a smile.

He looked up at Alfred with big eyes as Alfred patted his head and said, "Well, I'll make sure to keep that in mind next time you and Maddie are hugging. Speaking of joining hugs, Maddie are you going to come and join?" Alfred opened up one arm to Madeline and held onto Fritz with the unopened arm.

Madeline chuckled lightly and said, "No. I don't really feel like joining your hug, but... I know someone who would like to join your hug." Madeline turned her head around and half shouted half said, "Kuma! Get Alfred!"

A white blur burst through a doorway to a bed room and flew into the living room/kitchen area. The huge, shaggy white dog looked around for a moment, its pink tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Fritz looked at Kumajirou for a second before he quickly wiggled out of Alfred's grasp and moved off to the side quickly.

Alfred looked at the dog before looking at Madeline. "You wouldn't dar-"

"Kumajirou get Alfred!" Madeline said, quickly interrupting Alfred and pointing at her brother.

Kumajirou's ears perked up at the sound of his name before he heard Alfred's name. He turned his head to Alfred, staring for just a moment before he charged. His paws hit the ground heavily, making a loud sound as he scampered across the floor before leaping at Alfred and hitting him square in the chest.

Alfred fell flat on his back with a slobbering white dog on his chest, licking his face lightly. Alfred glared at Madeline for a moment when Kumajirou decided that that was a good time to lick his face again, but this time Kumajirou dragged his wet tongue over Alfred's face completely.

Madeline started laughing before a phone rang. Leaving Alfred to his own devices to get Kumajirou off of him, Madeline went to the home phone they had and answered.

"Hello? What? Oh, no. You don't have the wrong number. This is Alfred's sister. Who is this? Wha-" Madeline said before being interrupted by Alfred, who snatched the phone out of her hand and held it up to his ear.

Madeline gave Alfred a sharp glare before turning on her heel and grabbing two cups of hot chocolate off the counter. "I'll have Fritz drink his really quick before going back to bed." Madeline said to Alfred without turning around. She walked back over to the little boy, who was now playing with Kumajirou, and told him that it was time to go to bed.

Madeline glance over at Alfred for a second before following Fritz into his room.

* * *

Madeline walked out of Fritz's room with the two empty cups. She went to the sink and put the cup down gently before filling them both up with water. She looked around and saw that Alfred was sitting in a random chair, lacing up his shoes with a suitcase and a gym bag next to him.

Madeline sighed softly and walked over to him and said, "Another 'business trip' Alfred?" Madeline made air quotes around 'business trip' and said it almost sarcastically.

Alfred glanced up at her for a second before looking back down at his shoes, avoiding her eyes. "What's with the air quotes? I'm just going to this conference thing about some stuff the company does." Alfred said.

Madeline crossed her arms and said, "You know, the more and more you go away for months at a time the more and more I start to believe that you really don't work a desk job. Come on Alfred, I'm not stupid. You haven't even told me the name of this 'company' you work for is and you randomly have to go for long periods of time, but whenever you're not gone for so long you work really odd hours. Why can't you just tell me?"

Alfred's laugh sounded a bit off, but he finally looked at Madeline as he laughed. "Maddie you're just paranoid. And I've told you a bunch of times before the company I work for is like unknown and mostly in other areas of the country so I have to fly to do stuff in the other states. You wouldn't know the name of it anyway, but there's nothing to freak out about. I just do a simple desk job." Alfred said with a grin.

"Mmhmm, a simple desk job that you brought a gun to?" Madeline said skeptically.

Alfred's eyes went wide for a second before he said, "How'd you find out about my gun?"

Madeline dropped her arms and said, "Last time you came home and had to go into 'the company' I was cleaning up and cleaned up in your room a bit. I saw that you hadn't unpacked yet and so I decided I would, but when I saw the gun I just left the bag alone so you wouldn't know I found it."

Alfred looked down at the ground and stayed quiet, expecting Madeline to demand more answers.

Letting out another sigh, Madeline pulled Alfred out of the chair and into a tight hug. "You know, it doesn't matter to me that much that I don't know what your job is. I just worry that you're not safe, Alfred. I mean if something happened to you I don't know what I'd do." Madeline said quietly.

Alfred returned the hug and said, "Don't worry, sis. I'll be back before you even realize I was gone."

Madeline nodded against Alfred's shoulder and then let him go by taking a step back. "Okay. Just be safe," Madeline said.

Alfred nodded to Madeline with a large grin. He picked up his suitcase and then his gym bag filled with clothes. He walked to the door and opened it before he started saying, "Yup! I'll be super safe. Now, do what you normally do when I'm gone. Get that gym teacher or chemistry teacher you work with to walk you home. And if Gilbert shows up again avoid him, slam the door in his face, pepper spray him, kick him in the jewels, you know, whatever you need to do to make him go away. If I'm going to be gone more than a few weeks I'll call Arthur to come stay with you and Fritz. You know where the fire extinguisher is. Be safe, don't light the house on fire, get Fritz to bed on time, all that jazz. See you in a couple of weeks or something. Bye!" Walking through the door, Alfred lifted his suitcase in a way to wave goodbye.

Madeline waved at him and said, "bye," quietly before closing the door behind Alfred and locking it. She sighed loudly and turned off the light before walking to her bed room. She'd grade the rest of her class's papers tomorrow during lunch.

* * *

((A/N: Wow... Sorry I took so long to update this I mean man, I was hit with writer's block for ever for all of my stories and such. And this chapter is kind of short. But don't worry about the next chapter, I'll make sure it's a lot longer than this one and I'm going to add in a few more characters to make things interesting. Plus, you might get to see just what Gilbert's plan is gonna be.

Also, if you can guess what Alfred's job is, or whoever guesses correctly first, will get a one-shot of some sort. Just for fun. You know?

Thank you to HiddenCreek, LoverOfTheDark14, Sora Moto, Hikaru-NeeChan, Neeky-chan, and blacknightwolf1 for reviewing~! And thank you to every who's read this!

Reviews are love~))


	5. Ready Set Go

Ch. 5 Ready Set Go

Madeline held Fritz's hand as they walked down the street together. She kept glancing around, almost expecting something to happen since Alfred almost always walked with them. It was a bit of a scary thought that something could happen, but Madeline didn't want to get caught off guard.

Soon, the elementary school came in sight and Madeline frowned lightly. She didn't like the idea of leaving Fritz at the school because he was going to have to ride the bus to the high school Madeline taught at and he hadn't ridden the bus at all this year so far.

Madeline gripped Fritz's hand a bit tighter and continued towards the building. She chewed her bottom lip a bit as they continued to near the building. Soon they were standing right in front of the building and Madeline let go of Fritz's hand.

"Alright Fritz, remember you're taking bus 388 to the high school. Once you get there go to the office and wait for my class to end so I can come get you, okay? Remember that if anything happens use the emergency phone to call me right away." Madeline said looking down at Fritz intently.

Fritz sighed and said, "Oui. I got it. Don't worry so much mom. I'm just going to school." Fritz looked over at the school and spotted a few of his friends. He waved at them before turning back to Madeline. "Can I go now?"

Madeline looked down at Fritz for a bit before sighing loudly. "Yup. Go have fun with your friends. And remember, be safe okay?" Madeline said as she patted Fritz's head.

Fritz nodded quickly and ran off to go and talk to his friends.

Madeline smiled lightly at Fritz running off and really hoped that he would be okay. She couldn't help, but worry about Fritz. After all, he reminded her so much of Gilbert and remembering how Gilbert was in school made her worry about Fritz. Plus, Madeline was a mother. It was her job to worry about her child.

Chuckling Madeline turned around and started walking to the high school so she could get ready for her classes that would take place throughout the day. As she walked she thought about who she could ask to walk home with her and Fritz. She knew Alfred would have no way of knowing if she followed his instructions or not, but she was a bit paranoid about walking around alone too. The park was fine cause it was right across from her apartment and a ton of people were always there, but from the high school to the apartment, anything could happen there.

Madeline hummed lightly as she walked along, already planing her class's day in her mind.

* * *

Once lunch time came around, Madeline was sitting in her classroom, rushing to grade all of the papers she needed to grade. Her lunch of cold pancakes was sitting off to the side, only half eaten as she tried to finish grading the papers she was supposed to have graded last night.

She hummed softly to herself as she graded the papers on her desk quickly. A loud knock on the open door startled her.

Looking up, Madeline saw the high school gym teacher standing there with a large grin on his face. She smiled at him and said, "Hello, Mathais! Just the person I was looking for."

Mathais laughed and said, "Looking for? You're sitting there grading papers and lunch period's almost up." He crossed his arms and looked at the blond.

Madeline looked up at the clock and frowned slightly. "I thought I still had twenty minutes... And I'm still not done grading these papers!" Madeline said with a groan. Now she'd have to take the papers home and grade them there. It was Friday too so Madeline had promised Fritz they'd go and see a movie together since they always saw movies every other Friday. It would suck to be stuck grading papers all night and be tired the next day.

Laughing again, Mathais walked over and patted Madeline on the back. "It'll be okay Maddie. What were you going to look for me for?" Mathais asked. He knew Madeline would probably be able to get the papers done easily, but he wanted to know why she wanted him.

"Oh yeah! You know how Alfred randomly leaves for business trips and stuff?" Madeline said, waiting for Mathais to confirm. Once he nodded she quickly continued, "Well he left last night and I'm kind of worried about walking alone to my house with Fritz so I was wondering if you'd walk with me for a couple of weeks since your house it just past there."

Mathais frowned suddenly and said, "Really sorry, Maddie, but I can't today. You know my brother Berwald?" With a nod from Madeline he continued, "Well he and Tino's son is turning 13 today so their having a little party for him and I have to go see the little kid. I can do it next week!"

Madeline waved her hand lightly and said, "No, it's fine. I'll ask Lars once school ends to see if he can walk with me. Thanks though!"

Mathais nodded and then looked at the clock. "Well, I'll see you around Maddie. Tell Fritz I said hi, okay?" Mathais said as he walked towards the door waving at her.

She smiled at him and said, "Alright, I'll do that. Bye!"

Mathais left the room just as the bell for the next class rang and a few of her students started walking in. She sighed and looked at the clock for a moment, wondering if she could get away with having her next classes just have a free writing period.

* * *

At the end of the school day Madeline dismissed her students before grabbing her things and leaving the room, locking up quickly. Since it was a Friday she knew Lars, the chemistry teacher, would be leaving quickly so she wanted to catch the man before he left.

She walked down the hallway, ignoring the occasional student who wouldn't see her and would bump into her. Really, some things from high school never changed. Soon Madeline spotted the man she was looking for talking with a student about some paper that kept getting passed between them.

Quickening her step just a bit she walked over to Lars and smiled in greeting. The other returned her smile before turning back to the student and resolving the matter quickly. Madeline held her book in her arm and her bag on her back as she waited patiently.

"Sorry 'bout that Madeline. The girl thought she had gotten some questions right on this test, but I set her straight. What can I do for you?" Lars said calmly as he crossed his arms.

Madeline chuckled lightly. Lars wasn't perfect, but he certainly did know his chemistry and rarely got anything wrong. Frequently Madeline would joke around with him and say that he never got a question wrong because in collage her had been a stoner and had to get chemical things correct or it wouldn't turn out well, but of course Madeline didn't know. She had just heard Lars's sister say things like this every once in a while when the three would hang out every so often.

"Well I'm glad you were able to set her straight in the ways of the stoner who never misses chemistry questions," Madeline said teasingly.

Lars rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, Maddie. Don't say that with kids around. Enough rumors have been going around about me already."

Madeline chuckled lightly and said, "Alright, I'm sorry, but I do have something I wanted to ask you."

Lars lifted an eyebrow and said, "Yes?"

"Well, Alfred left for a business trip yesterday and I was wondering if you could walk with me and Fritz to my house for just a few weeks or so. I mean you and Bella's house is pretty close so I thought that it wouldn't be too much of a bother. I mean if it is a bother you don't need to," Madeline said lightly, looking down at the ground and chewing at her lip. She didn't want to bother anyone. If it came down to it, Madeline always cool start carrying around pepper spray whenever she and Fritz had to walk back home from the high school.

Lars chuckled and said, "Is Alfred's paranoia getting to you?" He was joke around of course. He knew that anything really could happen from the time it took to get from the high school to Madeline's apartment. Plus, a little kid and a young woman walking around alone would probably make for an easy target if anyone did want to pull something.

Madeline frowned at him and said, "No. I just don't want anything to happen. Y- Yesterday... never mind. Will you walk with us or not?" Madeline didn't really want to tell anyone about what happened the day prior because she wasn't sure how someone would take it. Plus, it wasn't very good to spread personal things around work.

Giving Madeline a look of concern, Lars softly said, "Yeah I'll walk with you guys... You know if you want to talk you can talk to me right?" He was curious about what happened yesterday, but since Madeline obviously didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't try to push the subject.

Smiling softly, Madeline nodded to Lars and then said, "Thanks, Lars. Do you wanna go with me to the office to get Fritz?"

Nodding calmly Lars said, "Lead the way."

Madeline smiled brightly at this and started off towards the office humming softly with Lars walking calmly behind her. Once they got to the office they saw Fritz sitting next to the receptionist and talking her ear office.

"And one time when we went there there was this huge scary looking hawk that was eating these mice and it was really cool, but really gross at the same time! But the bird was really cool. It looked a really dark brownish color, but it's tail looked kind of red and I told mom that I want one of those for my birthday!" Fritz said quickly, making hand gestures and moving in the seat to empathize his point.

The receptionist laughed and nodded. "I'm sure you'll get one for your birthday," She said cheerfully.

Madeline laughed and said, "What's this about getting a hawk for your birthday?"

Fritz looked over at Madeline and ran over to hug her. "I want a hawk for my birthday! You know the really big one we saw at the a- avi..." Fritz said, trailing off because he couldn't quite remember the word for the big bird building.

"Aviary?" Lars suggested with a smile. He knew that the little kid was practically obsessed birds of all sorts.

Fritz grinned at Lars for a second before going back to talking, "Yeah! Aviary! The big one at the aviary with the redish tail. I want that for my birthday. And we should totally go to the aviary this weekend because it's awesome!" Fritz looked up at Madeline with pleading eyes.

Laughing lightly, Madeline patted Fritz's head and said, "I don't know about getting you a hawk for your birthday, but I'm pretty sure I can arrange going to the aviary. We can do it on Sunday okay? And since your birthday's on Friday we'll look into getting you a smaller bird that won't bite off your fingers."

Fritz grinned happily and nodded in agreement. So she wasn't sure about getting him a hawk. At least that wasn't a no and on the bright side if the hawk fell through he'd still be able to get an awesome bird. "Okay! Are we going and seeing a movie tonight mom?" Fritz asked, suddenly remembering that today was Friday and they saw movies on Friday.

Madeline nodded happily and said, "Yup. Now lets walk home. Lars is walking with us today."

Fritz let go of Madeline and ran over to huge Lars. "Yay! Is he coming with us to the movies, mom?" Fritz asked. Alfred always went with them to the movies whenever he wasn't working so it was only natural for him to assume the male walking with them home would be going to the movies as well.

Chuckling lightly, Madeline gave Lars a slightly nervous look. "W- Would you like to go to the movies with me and Frtiz? Alfred normally comes with us and we get dinner right before s- so if you want to come it would be nice to have someone come along," Madeline said fiddling with the hem of her shirt a bit.

Lars gave her and Fritz a wide smile before saying, "I'd have to ask Bella if she minds her brother not being at home, but I'd love to come." He was joking about asking Bella. Knowing his sister, she'd be happy to get him out of the house. Plus Lars had been meaning to ask Madeline out on a date so if he went with them he'd have the perfect chance to and then Bella wouldn't be able to keep bothering him about being a coward for not asking Madeline out because he was nervous.

Fritz grinned happily and said, "Awesome! Lets go home quick so we can decide what movie to watch!" Fritz pulled away from Lars and grabbed Madeline's hand before walking towards the exit.

Madeline laughed lightly and nodded at Lars before allowing herself to get pulled out of the office and out of the building with Lars following quickly.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Lars came up to Madeline's apartment door, ready to go with her and Fritz to dinner and a movie. He knew that it really wasn't a date or anything like that, but Lars had brought a bouquet of tulips for Madeline and was going to ask her if she wanted to go on a date with him.

Lars hid the bouquet behind his back so he could surprise Madeline and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to open it. Lars was surprised to be greeted by a blond man who he didn't recognize. Suddenly Lars worried that he had been wrong in thinking that Madeline wasn't with someone. He knew that Fritz's father was gone and he had never heard mention of her having a boyfriend so he assumed she didn't.

The blond looked Lars up and down for a moment, noticing the tulips that were partly visible from behind Lars's back. The blond turned his head into the apartment and shouted, "Madeline I don't approve of this guy."

Madeline appeared in the doorway, her cheeks slightly red as she said, "Francis, he's not for you to approve. This is Lars the chemistry teacher at the high school I work at. Before you showed up unannounced we made plans for the three of us to go have dinner and then go to a movie since Alfred's gone."

Francis looked at Madeline and nodded lightly before looking back at Lars. Making a move to close the door, Francis said, "I still don't approve and I know Alfred wouldn't either."

Madeline grabbed the door to keep Francis from closing it. "And I said I don't care, now move out of the doorway and let Lars in. You're being rude and he's a really nice person," Madeline said, glaring at her cousin.

Francis sighed dramatically. He gave Lars a look that said, 'I'm watching you,' before turning around and walking away from the door.

Madeline turned to Lars with a soft smile and was about to apologize when Lars held up the flowers.

"I- I got these for you because I wanted to know if you'd go on a date with me tomorrow or sometime soon. I- If you don't want to it's cool I was just curious," Lars said nervously. After hearing someone that was probably part of Madeline's family disapprove of him he wasn't sure if Madeline would agree to go, but at least this guy wasn't her boyfriend or anything, right?

Madeline glanced behind her to see Francis peering around the corner and eavesdropping. She stepped forward and Lars stepped back as she closed the door so Francis wouldn't be able to hear their conversation.

Smiling brightly at Lars, Madeline said, "I would love to go on a date with you Lars. If you want to go tomorrow I can do that since Francis is hear to watch Fritz. Oh, and sorry about Francis. He's my cousin, but he practically raised me so he acts like an overprotective father most of the time. Ignore his 'I don't approve' crap too. He rarely approves of anyone I talk to."

Lars smiled and said, "Alright, I won't let him get to me. I'll come pick you up around lunch time tomorrow okay?"

Madeline nodded and accepted the bouquet. "Well we should probably get going to dinner and the movie or Fritz will start getting upset. Francis is coming with us, though. Now come on in," Madeline said, opening the door and walking inside with Lars following behind.

He closed the door behind him and followed Madeline into the large apartment, ignoring how Francis gave him a soft glare. When Fritz came up to him, he gave the child a light huge before standing up straight again.

"I'll go put these into a vase and then we can go. Francis can you help Fritz with his jacket?" Madeline said glancing over at Francis.

Francis nodded and went to the little hall closet that had jackets and such before he gave it to Fritz and helped the little boy get it on.

Madeline left to the kitchen and put the flowers in a vase with a bit of water before coming back into the room and getting her own jacket. Smiling at all of the boys she said, "Alright, lets go."

* * *

They walked to a nice little sit down place that was right across the street from the movie theater. It was a little dinner place that Madeline and Fritz had gone to quite a few times before. They sat in a booth with Fritz and Madeline sitting on one side while Lars and Francis awkwardly sat together on the other side of the booth.

Madeline could tell the situation was awkward by the fact that Fritz was the only one talking at the moment. That and the fact that Francis keep glaring at Lars and Lars was trying his best to ignore it.

"Uncle Francis how long are you gonna stay? Are you gonna come with us to the aviary on Sunday? It's really cool. Mom do you think the huge hawk will still be there? I hope so. It was the coolest bird there and I really wanna see it again. I wonder if they'll have any other new birds there too. It'd be cool if they got a whole bunch of the big hawks and we got to watch the birds eat mice and stuff!" Fritz exclaimed and said rapidly, not noticing how awkward everything seemed to be.

Madeline looked over at Francis and said, "How long are you staying here? I mean I know your band is on break right now, but don't you guys normally spend break to- Oh dear, for the love of God, please tell me Antonio's not in town too." Madeline covered her face and prayed that all three members of the Bad Touch Trio weren't there. Francis being there was good because he could watch Fritz and Madeline could deal with Gilbert, but getting all three of them together just spelled trouble for the entire town. With Francis showing up the day after Gilbert she was already a little suspicious, but if the third member of the trio showed up too Madeline would know for certain that the three were plotting something.

"Madeline, don't sound so upset that we're in town. It is not my fault that I decided to come visit and the other two followed.. Wait, how did you already know that Gilbert's here?" Francis asked. He already knew about what happened the other day, but if this plan would work everything had to seem at least somewhat innocent.

Madeline sighed loudly and shook her head. "I- I ran into him yesterday... You know what, we'll talk about this later okay? I'm going to go pay the bill and then we can go see a movie," Madeline said, sliding out of the booth and walking away.

Lars was about to stand to offer to pay for it himself, when Francis grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. Lars turned to Francis and pulled his arm away.

"I don't approve of you trying to woo Madeline. You seem nice enough and I know I can't keep Madeline from doing whatever she wants, but know if you do /anything/ to hurt her or make her upset you will wish you had never come to this town," Francis said threateningly.

Lars glared at Francis and said, "You know from the way Madeline's been acting it seems like your buddy Gilbert hurt her yesterday, but I don't see you doing anything about it. Madeline's an adult so why don't you stay out of her business?"

Fritz chose that moment to pipe up and said, "What are you guys talking about? You look like you're about to start fighting. Fighting isn't good so stop it. Fighting makes mom sad."

Lars looked at Fritz for a moment before standing up and said, "Come on Fritz lets go to your mom at the register so we can get to the theater quickly."

Fritz nodded happily and got out of the booth, following Lars over to Madeline.

Francis sighed loudly and shook his head. This was going to be harder than he originally thought.

* * *

Once the movie was over with the four walked back to Madeline's apartment. Madeline told Francis to go put Fritz to bed while she said goodbye to Lars. Standing outside of the door once again so Francis wouldn't have the chance to eavesdrop, Madeline nervously played with the hem of her shirt.

Lars smiled gently at her and said, "So I'll see you tomorrow around lunch time, alright?"

Madeline nodded lightly and said, "I'll be ready by lunch time tomorrow, but what are we going to be doing?"

Smiling secretively, Lars shook his head. "It's a surprise, but I'm pretty sure you'll like it. Just make sure to wear something you won't get too hot in, okay?" Lars said, the sly smile still on his face.

Madeline huffed lightly and nodded. "Alright, keep your secrets. I'll make sure. Thanks for putting up with Francis tonight. I know he's really annoying when he wants to be," She said looking down at the ground.

Lars just chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it Madeline. I'm just glad you and Fritz were able to have fun." Checking his phone for the time, Lars kissed the top of her head quickly before saying, "I've got to get back to my house now so I'll see you tomorrow."

Blushing lightly, Madeline said, "I'll see you tomorrow." Waving him off, she turned and went back into her apartment to see a slightly angry Francis standing there tapping his foot.

Rolling her eyes, she closed the door behind her and crossed her own arms. "Francis don't you dare act like I'm in the wrong here. You were a complete jerk the entire night to someone you've only just met. And don't think I'm not on to whatever you and that idiot and probably Antonio, cause he practically follows you guys everywhere, are planning. I hope you have fun watching Fritz tomorrow because it's the least you can do for being so rude all night. I mean honestly. At the dinner I understood having Fritz sitting next to me, but when we were at the movies and Lars tried to sit next to me and then you made up that stupid story of not being able to see that was just... ugh. God Francis, I love you and I know you're just trying to look out for me, but you just got into town and you're acting like you own the place," Madeline said angrily. She was pretty angry about how obnoxious Francis had been acting and she couldn't help, but vent it all out now that Fritz was asleep and Lars was gone.

In another situation Francis probably would've laughed at the fact that Madeline didn't even use Gilbert's name, but he remained serious. Walking up to his cousin he gently hugged her and said, "Je suis désolé. I'm just worried about you Madeline. I'm sure your friend is perfectly nice, but I don't think he's right for you to date. Though I will admit he has the patience of a saint."

Madeline chuckled at that and said, "I know what you think Francis, but what I'm saying is give it a chance okay? I haven't really dated anyone since Gilbert because I was worried something bad would happen, but I want to try and you won't let me. Please Francis. Just a for a little bit and if something goes wrong you can tell me that you told me so over and over again."

Francis frowned lightly and pulled Madeline into a tight hug. "Mon petit ange, I would never tell you that I told you so when it came to love. Now, how about you go to sleep so you can have fun at your date tomorrow?" Francis said pulling away and giving her a soft smile.

Smiling, she nodded and let go of Francis. "And you're certain you're okay with sleeping on the couch? I mean you could take Al's room," Madeline offered.

Francis shook his head quickly and said, "Seeing that boy's locker in high school makes me not even want to know what kind of shape his room is in."

Madeline laughed and then said, "Alright then. If you need anything come wake me up. I hope you sleep well. Good night." She waved at him lightly before turning around and walking off.

Waving and smiling, Francis waited until Madeline was completely out of the room and her door was shut before he went over to the front door and sat against it, wanting to be far away from Madeline's room so she wouldn't hear him. Whipping out his phone he dialed a number quickly.

Tapping his foot he waited for one of his friends to pick up. When he heard a voice on the other end he grinned. "Tonio, tell Gilbert there's been a slight set back in the plan, but I think we can fix it quick. You know that hot-head Italian you go out with? Yes Toni, the person you dragged along with us cause you know, we brought so many people with us. Mon Dieu, you're right Gilbert's sarcasm is rubbing off on me. Wait, back on track. Can you convince your friend to help us? Bon! I'll give you the details tomorrow when I stop by the hotel. Quoi? Yes it will be early in the morning so tell Gilbert to not get super drunk. He's no fun hung over," Francis said. Hearing a slight bang, Francis froze and looked around before putting the phone back to his ear. "Alright Tonio, I have to go. Phase one of the plan begins tomorrow. Good night."

* * *

((A/N: Bwuahahaha allow me to write a long chapter and still not reveal what Francis's plan is!

Translations:

Mon petit ange - My sweet angel or My little angel. ((I've heard quite a bit of debate between people about whether you'd directly translate it or otherwise. In this case I think either fits, but yes, directly translated Mon petit ange does mean My little angel.))

Je suis désolé - I am sorry

Mon Dieu - My God

Bon! - Good!

Quoi? -What?

I apologize if there are any mistakes. I'm only in French 2 so I only know basic French

So I hope you guys don't mind the addition of NetherlandsxFem!Canada(Don't worry it's not gonna last a really long time anyway) and Spamano. I also hope that I wrote Netherlands and Denmark in character. I've never actually written them before, but I've read some fics with them in it so I based it off of that. Also, you won't find out whether it's going to be Fem!Romano that comes in or normal Romano. And no, I'm not telling. And yes, I already know who it's gonna be.

Thank you to HiddenCreek, Neeky-chan, chibibeanie, thegurlwhowrites7865, Guest, and blacknightwolf1 for your reviews! They made me smile. Congratulations to Neeky-chan who guess first and got the closest guess, her guess being secret police. I kind of wanted to see if anyone would guess what I was thinking, which was CIA, but secret police is close enough. I was thinking of making him an assassin or something, but I figured that that would draw attention off of the main characters. (That being Madeline and Gilbert really.)

Anywho, Neeky-chan will get a one-shot of some sort that will be showing up on here when I'm finished with it!

Also, I'm really happy that people are reading this and following it and faving it, but I'd love a few more reviews.

And before I forget I wanted to ask if you guys reading this story could check out my other PruCan story, Twisted Fate. It's an AU and I think if you like this story you'll like my other one, but you know, if you have time check it out please?

Reviews are love~))


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